1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fluid line with a pipe, a connector that has a pipe connection and that is arranged at one end of the pipe, and a heating device that heats at least a part of the pipe and at least a part of the connector, wherein the pipe connection surrounds a part of a through-channel through the connector.
The invention is explained below based on a fluid line that is used to transport urea from a storage container to a point of consumption. Urea is used with diesel engines in order to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides.
2. Discussion of Background Information
When a fluid line of this type is installed in a motor vehicle, there is the danger at low outdoor temperatures that the urea will freeze in the fluid line so that it can no longer flow. It is therefore known to heat the fluid line. Not only the pipe is heated thereby, an attempt is also made to heat the connector.
Urea solidifies at a temperature of minus 11° C., that is, freezes, and prevents the further flow of urea from a tank to a point of consumption, for example, an injection pump. In order to meet certain standards, the heating device must be able to thaw the urea in the fluid line within a certain time. This requires a certain heating power, so that the heating device has to be sized correspondingly large. This increases the mass of the vehicle and increases the energy consumption.
While the pipe generally has a certain flexibility so that it can generally absorb the increase in volume associated with the freezing of the liquid inside the fluid line without any difficulty, the connector is not usually so resilient. There is therefore a danger of the connector being damaged due to the freezing of the liquid.